In general, a plating which contains palladium is known to have excellent electrical properties and be economical as compared to precious metal platings such as a gold plating. However, a pure palladium plating containing no other metal has such an intrinsic property that the deposit is liable to occlude hydrogen, leading to high internal stress and easy cracking. Therefore, a palladium-nickel alloy plating by co-depositing nickel has hitherto been widely used, as disclosed, for instance, in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 46-25604 (1971), 47-33177 (1972) and 47-33178 (1972). The deposit obtained by the palladium-nickel alloy plating is glossy, occludes little hydrogen and is malleable, as contrasted to the pure palladium plating; therefore, a thick plating of the alloy can be obtained with extremely few cracks and favorable adhesion properties.
However, in the case of the conventional palladium-nickel alloy plating, the nickel content of the deposit is high (15% or more), so that the deposit is liable to be attacked by chemicals as nitric acid, and accordingly, such plating can hardly be utilized in the field where high-quality plating is required, for instance, electronic parts.
The present inventor, as a result of various experiments, has found that the abovementioned problems can be overcome if the nickel content of the deposit is not higher than 15%.
The present invention has been attained, based on the abovementioned finding, while paying attention to the prior art. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a plating solution and a plating process for a high-purity palladium-nickel plating by which a deposit comparable to a pure palladium plating in resistance to chemicals such as nitric acid can be obtained without sacrificing the intrinsic features of palladium-nickel alloy plating, an article plated with the palladium-nickel alloy and an article plated with the palladium-nickel alloy and further with gold or a gold alloy.